Stormy Weather

Cold fronts clashing with warm fronts, global warming or whatever is causing it, I wish the stormy weather we’ve been having this spring would give it a rest.

After one of our worst winters on record, the spring hasn’t proven to be much better as Mother Nature appears to be angry with us still.

I can only speak in regards to North America but it would seem we’re on pace to set a record (if we haven’t already) for the most tornados ever. Here in Ontario tornados do occur but not as frequently as they do in the infamous Tornado Alley in the U.S. We’ve had several already in this Province and the summer hasn’t even started yet.

Of course tornados are only one issue. The severe thunderstorms we’ve been seeing have produced extremely dangerous lightning and plenty of flooding all over the continent resulting in many lives being lost.

Just recently I was at work one night and I witnessed one of the worst lightning storms I can ever recall seeing in this part of the world. Normally I don’t mind lightning but this storm was so intense, it even had me on edge.

The lightning strikes were happening all around me and they were continual. As if the fear of being struck by a bolt wasn’t bad enough, the high winds and pelting rain had me not only running for cover but scanning the night sky for signs of a funnel cloud. It just had that feel about it. Luckily no tornadoes arrived.

I did have a brush with a tornado as a child. The year was 1973 and on July 13th my dad, mom, brother and I were heading to my grandparents house in Colborne, Ont. We were just passing through Brighton and were almost at the outskirts of town when the car was literally pushed all over the road by the force of the wind. Dad struggled but managed to keep the car under control and we carried on.

Luck was on our side that day. Had we looked out the back window of the car, we would have seen the tornado going through the town leaving a path of destruction. If we’d been just a minute later, we would have taken a direct hit. As it was, several buildings were destroyed and there was plenty of damage. If you'd like to read more about the tornado in Brighton, just click here.

As I’m typing this another thunderstorm has just passed through but luckily it wasn’t too severe but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities this summer to witness more of nature’s forces at work. Lets just hope we all make it through unscathed so we can enjoy another winter of freezing temperatures and a whole heap of snow.